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DJ Flash
Lee "DJ Flash" Johnson- EARLY WEST COAST RAP PIONEER 1981 Founding Member of The Rappers Rapp Group / Dark Star & THE FUTURE MC'S / *PRODUCER @ Rappers Rapp Records, *Rhino Records * AVI Records *Excello Records, Macola Records, *Producer : West Coast Rap "The First Dynasty" *Executive Producer : Dr. Dre "Concrete Roots" *Ice T "The Classic Collection" *Ice T "Cold as Ever" (Rhino) *The "Original 2-Live Crew" *** Founder of *Hitman Music *Hitts Records, *Flash Records, Innercore Records (Techno) *** DJ Flash Los Angeles, CA Old School Rap genre 1980 Bio full story Active Artists.MTV DJ Flash Bio MTV ©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. About DJ Flash Lee "DJ Flash" Johnson better known as DJ Flash is an American hip hop artist. In 1981 DJ Flash was the first white rapper ever signed to a rap label "Rappers Rapp Disco Co." Los Angeles, Ca. He attended high schools in Sacramento and Taft, California. He began his musical career at radio station KTKR 1310 AM in Taft and went on to become one of the founding members of Los Angeles first rap group - The Rappers Rapp Group. In 1992, DJ Flash produced the four-volume set West Coast Rap-The First Dynasty for Rhino Records, followed by Ice-T, The Classic Collection. After the success of these five albums, DJ Flash launched his own label, Hitman Music, in 1994, a joint venture with Triple XXX/Sony Music. Hitman's first release, Concrete Roots by Dr. Dre, sold over 250,000 copies during its first week of release. Debuting at #6 on Billboards Rap Charts, and at #24 on Billboard Top 100, Concrete Roots remained on Billboards Top 100 for eight consecutive weeks. Other DJ Flash productions include ICE T Cold As Ever (Hitman/Blue Dolphin), and The Original 2 Live Crew, which featured early recordings by The 2 Live Crew. *** The Rappers Rapp Group was a hip-hop group, composed of DJ Flash, King MC, Lovin' C, Mr. Ice, MC Fosty, and Mack-A-Moe.Their first release was "Rappers Rapp Theme", recorded in 1981 and released through Rappers Rapp Disco Co. in 1982. They later changed their name to Dark Star and signed with AVI Entertainment.Later, they would release the single "Planet Earth", through Le Vic Records. After Dark Star broke up, members of the group continued to release records. . MC Fosty & Lovin C went solo and released Radio Activity Rapp, which was produced by Rich Cason. DJ Flash & MC Fosty released Beverlly Hills Rapp. King MC & DJ Flash became the Future MC's and with the help of Llyod Lee and Michael Jackson they recorded Erotic City Rapp, We are the Future, Nosie People and State of Shock Rapp. King MC in 1986 released the answer record to Janet Jackson's What Have You Done for Me Lately, What Have I Done For You Lately and Nasty Boy in 1987. *** History: Our story begins in 1981. Duffy Hooks III has just founded the first West Coast rap label, Rappers Rapp Disco Company. Duffy, who before the foundation of the label sold records for Sugar Hill and Enjoy Records that Hip hop is going to be one of the greatest musical genres. That same year he decided to hold an audition in the Magic Disc Record Store. The audition was announced by radio stations KDAY and KGFJ. Duffy's purpose for the audition was to found a group modeled after the popular early hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, which made fame with Superrappin on Enjoy Records and Freedom later on Sugar Hill plus Flash's incredible skills on the turntables. The group consisted of six MC's: DJ Flash, King MC, Macker Moe, Lovin C, MC Fosty and Mr. Ice. In '82, the group released their first hit, Rappers Rapp Theme, a spin-off of Another One Bites the Dust by Queen. One year later, Duffy decided it was time for the group to be signed on a major record label. The group's name was changed to Dark Star and they released the LP Sexy Baby which was supposed to be released on MCA Records. Because MCA didn't know how to market a rap album the album was released on AVI Records. The production on AVI Records was slow at first because the engineers didn't know how to produce a rap album. The first problem was the micing. As there were 6 guys in the group the engineers tried to put two microphones, one for the first three, the second for the other three. Because of the imbalance of the level, the engineers succeeded by putting six separate microphones. The music for the album was done by a group of young musicians from Bakersfield, California called Black Diamond. The band consisted of: Roy Mateen (drummer), Radji Mateen (saxophonist), Tarus Mateen (bassist), Charles Dickerson (guitarist), Anthony Randolph (trumpeter), Richard Lee Smith (percussionist), and George Graham (keyboardist). It was a learning experience for the engineers and the guys. The Sexy Baby album was released only in Europe.